Eye of the Storm (The Storm Series) (16 page)

He could smell her on them. This was the closest he’d ever been to her. He’d been missing out on her scent. His cock pulsated with anticipation. He pulled his pants down and slid up the bed on his stomach, burying his face in her pillow. He imagined he was pounding his cock hard and fast into her wet pussy. He thought of it being extra wet with all the blood.

Biting down as hard as he could on her pillow, imagining it being her neck, he thrashed his head back and forth, thinking of ripping the flesh off. That last thought was all it took to push him over the edge and he emptied himself all over her sheets. He rolled over and rubbed it into the sheets.

Pulling his pants back up, he took one last look at the room. A spur of the moment decision had him going back to her dresser and pulling out a couple pair of panties. Putting them in his pocket he walked to the next room. Silently opening the door, he walked in as if he owned the place. When he got to the side of the bed, he looked down at the sleeping old woman. She had no idea he was there, no idea what was coming.

Evie sighed and relaxed against the seat in the car on the way back to her grandmother’s house. The red-eye from Seattle was uneventful, except she didn’t get much sleep. The nightmares weren’t as frequent as the first night, but she didn’t want to panic the whole plane by waking up screaming.

She was hopeful that with the new information they just received they might be able to get somewhere. Anthony’s friend had come through and they’d found the flight information. It was a long shot, and a lot of names to go through, but maybe something would show up. It couldn’t be as easy as Jay Ellison was on a flight to a murder site around the time one happened.

Gasping, Evie sat up and leaned forward in her seat to get a better view out of the windshield. There were police cars and crime scene tape all around her grandmother’s house. Frantically searching the crowd she couldn’t see anyone she knew. As soon as Anthony stopped the car, she was out and running towards the house screaming her grandmother’s name.

Strong arms grabbed her from behind and held her from going any further. Kicking and squirming to get out of his hold, she turned and started beating her fists on his chest. “Let me go! I’ve got to get to Grams!”

“Miss Taylor?”

Evie turned around; the police officer was so serious. Thoughts whirled in her head. This couldn’t be good.
Please God, let her be ok.
She nodded, not able to form words. Starting to feel lightheaded because she was breathing so fast, she leaned back into Anthony searching for his strength. She took small comfort as his arms wrapped tightly around her.

“There was a break-in here last night.”

Evie’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh no.” Everything started to spin. She was having a hard time concentrating on his words.

Anthony leaned down and whispered in her ear. “You’re stronger than this. Calm down.”

His words seeped into her soul and she grabbed onto them. “Tell me.”

“A, Jackson Taylor, came home a little bit ago; it appears he went down to Boston for the night. When your grandmother wasn’t downstairs as he expected he went upstairs looking for her. She was gagged and tied to the bed. They took her to the hospital to get checked out, but she should be fine. The guard on the other hand, didn’t make it.”

Evie sagged against Anthony, almost bringing them both down in the process. “She’s okay. She’s okay. I’ve got to get to her.” She pushed out of his arms and started running to the car. When he didn’t follow, she turned back around. “Come on.”

“I’ll be there in a minute. I just have a couple of questions.”

“You’ve got two minutes; otherwise I’m stealing your car.”

“La mia belezza, you might not want to say that in front of the officer.”

Fuming, she flung herself in the car. Tears started falling and she buried her face in her hands. She’d been so scared that her grandmother was dead. She should’ve never left her here alone. They should have made sure security was here for her. Her anger towards her brother intensified. She couldn’t wait to see him, wanting to kick his ass for leaving her there alone.

Looking up when Anthony opened the door, she felt like his calm was the only thing keeping her in control. When he pulled her into a hug, she didn’t notice the gearshift digging into her side. His warmth and support filled her up, making her feel halfway normal again. When he let her go, she leaned back into her seat. “Drive and talk. What did you find out?”

“It was Jeremy.”

“Shit.”

“He left a message. He wanted to make sure we got it.”

“And, what was it.”

“He told your grandmother that he could get to you any time he wanted. You’d never be safe. He’s planning on making this kill like no other.”

Evie shuddered thinking back to what they found in New York and at his childhood home. “That can’t be good.”

“No, it’s not. So some things are going to change.”

“If you are thinking what I think you’re thinking you can just stop now. We’ll argue about this later.”

“Yes, we will.”

As soon as the car was stopped she ran towards the door. Anthony caught her quickly even with her head start. After finding out which floor her grandmother was on, she waited impatiently for the elevator. “Maybe we should take the stairs?”

“You don’t want to be all out of breath when you get to her room do you?”

Crossing her arms across her chest, she started to tap her foot. She would’ve run over the people waiting to get out if Anthony hadn’t grabbed her and held her back.

All she wanted to do was see her grandmother, to make sure she was really okay. Walking quickly down the hall, the first person she saw was her brother leaning against the wall looking down at his feet. Needing to lash out at someone she went up to him and punched him in the gut. “You bastard,” she hissed trying to keep her voice down. “How could you leave her alone? You know Jeremy is still out there. What? Did you have the urge to stick your dick in some willing pussy for the night? It couldn’t wait?”

“Ease up, Evie. It’s not like that.” Jackson ran his fingers through his hair.

“Start talking. Now, asshat.”

Sighing, he dropped his hands to his side. “I got a call from a guy I knew in Boston. He had a line on some information about Jeremy being in Boston.”

“So what, you just dropped everything and went down there? What were you thinking?”

“Gee, I don’t know, what would you have done? I love Lexi, too, you know. And now with you running all over the place trying to find Jeremy, I don’t want to lose you, too. I can’t just sit around and do nothing. Besides, the guard was with her.”

Evie closed her eyes. She knew what she would have done. The same thing. “Fine. Did you learn anything?”

“No, I spent all night going from one place to the other with nothing. It seems like it might have been a set up to get me out of the house.”

Wanting to purr like a cat, when Anthony started rubbing her back she held back. “Well, we know why he wanted you out of the house. Just next time make sure there is more than just one other person there with her.”

Anthony cleared his throat. “That is part of what we are going to be arguing about later.”

She could have laughed at the confused expression on her brother’s face. “Great. Now I’ve got to see Grams.”

Rushing to the side of her bed, Evie looked her grandmother over from head to toe. Seeing that she was really okay she grabbed her and gave her a hug. “You scared me so bad.”

“I’m fine, honey. It was scary when he was there. I didn’t know what he was going to do. But after he left I just got pissed off. Now if I ever see him again, I’m going to rip his dick off and put it in a meat grinder. Then I’m going to pour lemon juice all over it, then…”

Anthony held up his hand to make her stop. “I think we get the idea.”

“He’s just lucky he caught me while I was sleeping. Otherwise, his dick would be mine.”

“I think we’ve got it. Now how much longer do you have to be here?”

“Depends on when Dr. McHottness springs me. If he’d give me sponge baths, I’d stay here forever.”

Evie leaned down and kissed her forehead. “You’d ruin him for all other women.”

“Damn-skippy I would. Once you have a taste of me, no other woman will leave you as satisfied.”

“Where’s Leigh and Marie?” Evie looked around starting to get worried. While no direct relation to her and Lexi, they still meant a lot to them.

“Don’t worry; they just went down to see if there were any cute guys in the cafeteria. They’re trying to get some to come and cheer me up.”

“I’m sure they’re doing all that they can. Why don’t we go down there and hurry them up?” Evie was scared of what kind of trouble they could be getting into. She could see them getting banned from the hospital.

~*~

Anthony took the time to call Noah while Evie was dealing with the other ladies. He was amazed how much trouble they could get into. Seems there was an incident with whipped cream and a young man.

With everything set up, he knew he had to let the others in on his plan. Hoping it wouldn’t be too much of a fight, he decided to talk to Evie and her grandmother while they were on their way back to the house.

“Ladies, when we get back I want you both to pack a bag. You’ll be staying with Noah and Lexi until Jeremy is caught.” He gripped the steering wheel waiting for what would happen next.

“Hell no. We aren’t hiding away like some weak women who need protecting by men,” Evie said turning angry eyes to him.

“No one kicks me out of my house.”

“It’s not like that. We figure if everyone is under one roof, with a wall around the property and security patrolling, not to mention the alarm, everyone will be safe.”

Evie crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “Everyone?”

“Well, you, your grandmother, Jackson, Marie and Leigh.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be around.”

“But not staying there.”

“No, I don’t think it would be good for Lexi. Noah agreed.”

“So what you are left out there alone with no protection? I’ll say it again,
hell no
. I’ll stay with you.”

Sighing, he knew she was going to be like this. “La mia belezza, think about it. You wouldn’t be safe.”

“Don’t you go all sweet talking me,
you
wouldn’t be safe out there alone.”

“Yes, I will. He doesn’t want to physically do anything to me. He wants to make sure I mentally suffer. I’m safe.”

Shaking her head at him she said, “No, you don’t get it. Think about it. He somehow captures you. I get a phone call from him saying he has you. I’d do anything I could to find you. Then he’d find me. Don’t you think he’d enjoy killing me in front of you? Making you watch the whole thing without being able to do anything to save me?”

He knew she had a point. Maybe he could stay in Lexi’s old house. They were using it as a guest house now but no one was there. They wanted everyone up at the main house, together.

“I’ll see if I could stay in Lexi’s old house.”

“See? Now we’re talking. I’m still pissed about the whole thing, but if you’re there I’ll feel better.”

“I won’t,” Evelyne said from the backseat. “We have our house and things to do there. I don’t want to impose. How long do you think we’ll be there? What if its years?”

“It can’t be that long. We all need him to be caught so that we can get on with our lives.” Anthony said as he glanced at Evie.

“Have you talked to Leigh and Marie?”

“Noah said he’d have Lexi do it. He texted me. They’re on board.”

Pulling into the driveway at Evelyne’s house he turned to them. “Please, let’s do this, at least for now. Besides, we all need to go over a lot of information. Maybe something will come of it.”

Evelyne leaned forward so that her head was between theirs. “Do we get secret agent names? Can I be Hot Snatch?”

Anthony was so happy nothing really bad happened to her. You never knew what was going to come out of her mouth. It was a refreshing change to be around women who spoke their mind, even if some of the things on them were a bit disturbing, especially considering their age.

He watched Evie lean over and kiss her grandma’s cheek. “You can be whoever you want.” The love and devotion she had for her family and friends was something he admired.

“Okay, ladies, let’s get your stuff and get out of here. I want to make sure we are to Noah’s before dark.” As they approached the front door he asked, “Do I need to rent a truck so that we can get all your stuff over there?”

He was rewarded by a backhand to his stomach from Evie. Smiling, he was happy his plans were working out so well.

~*~

After everyone was settled into their rooms, they all met in the kitchen to snack on the food that Martha put out for them. Sam was mysteriously absent. Evie felt it had to do with the fact the Troublesome Trio was in the house. She felt bad, knowing the next days or weeks were going to be hard on him. Lucky for him, there were young, built security guards all over the place. They all knew the score and most of them had fun with the ladies. The ones that didn’t were scheduled to work along the wall.

There were papers and food spread over every flat surface in the area. Anthony and Evie brought everyone up to date with what they had found. They spent hours going over ideas and looking through paperwork. Everyone had lists of flight manifests. There were more than anyone thought.

Needing to rest her eyes, Evie walked over and sat on the edge of the couch next to her grandmother. “What are you whispering about over here?”

“I have no idea what you could be talking about,” Marie said as she smoothed the wrinkles on her pants.

Giving them a look, she crossed her legs and rested her chin on her hand. “I’m waiting. Come on, I’m tired and stressed, just spill it.”

“Oh, honey, you should get some sleep.” Leigh said. When Evie didn’t reply, she continued, “Fine, we were just commenting on the hotties in the room.”

“Well, I was commenting on two of them.” Evelyne pointed over her shoulder. “These two horn dogs were going all out.”

“And what conclusions did you come to?”